I have recently resigned from my teaching position at a TEP school. We were an outplacement school for behavior. I knew it was going to be tough but I never in a million years thought it would have been this bad. Admin was big into SEL (great, awesome) but refused to give consequences for behavior rather just having students talk it out. Students were bringing in guns, drugs, and knives. There were lockdowns 5 or 6 times a day for arrests and hospitalizations. When teachers and staff asked for additional resources we were told there were none available. We couldn’t even have a metal detector because they thought having a resource officer would be traumatizing. One of our specials teachers quit a month into the school year and was never replaced. Teachers were told that they were working on an alternative activity but we’d all have to lose our preps in the mean time. I got my lunch break twice a week and would eat in my car to escape the screaming. I was regularly chastised for limited academic progress even though I was only given outdated and non applicable materials. PD’s we’re useless team building or training for a new system for IEP’s. The real kicker was teacher appreciation week. I got all my kids down to the gym for gym class only to find out the gym was closed for corporately sponsored cookies and an essential oil diffuser. I received no notice and had to inform my students that they couldn’t go to the gym or have any cookies. We had 5 restraints that day.
As of today I have signed my new contract in a new district with a raise